Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre (May 6th, 1758 - July 28th, 1794) was one of the leaders of the French Revolution. He was responsible for one of the worst periods in the Revolution - The Reign of Terror. Early Life Maximilien Robespierre was born in Arras in the old French province of Artois. His mother died from causes unknown. In school, he learned to admire the idealized Roman Republic and many other classic history figures. Max became attracted to many ideas. He became intrigued by the idea of a "virtuous self", a man who stands alone only accompanied by his conscience. Early Politics Max was appointed one of five judges in a criminal court. He soon resigned, owing to discomfort in ruling on capital cases arising from his opposition to the death penalty. Max never had many cases. The most famous was about a lightning rode on St. Omar. On 15 November 1783, he was elected a member of the literary Academy of Arras. In 1784 the Academy of Metz awarded him a medal for his essay on the question of whether the relatives of a condemned criminal should share his disgrace, which made him a man of letters. He and Pierre Louis de Laucretelle, an advocate and journalist in Paris, divided in prize. Max attacked inequality before law, the indignity of natural children, getting arrested without a trial, and the sidelining of women in academic life. In August 1788 King Louis XVI announced new elections for all provinces and a gathering of the Estates-General for 1 May 1789 to solve France's financial and taxation problems. Late February 1789 France was in a pressing crisis due to its desire for a new constitution, according to Gouverneur Morris. Robespierre had begun to make his mark in politics with his Notice of residents in the Countryside. He attacked local authorities. With this, he secured the support of country electors. On 26 April 1789, Max was elected to the Estates-General. He was almost 31, comparatively poor, and lacking patronage. When the deputies arrived at Versailles they were presented to the King and listened to Jacques Necker's three-hour-long speech about institutional and political reforms. On 13 June Robespierre joined the National Assembly declared by the Third Estate, which transformed itself on 9 July into the National Constituent Assembly and moved to Paris. The Assembly declared a militia. The National Guard was formed. , Marquis de La Fayette was acclaimed commander-in-chief of the National Guard. The Assembly decided the Guard would be placed in every commune in the country. As a frequent speaker in the Assembly, Robespierre voiced many ideas in support of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and constitutional provisions for the Constitution of 1791 but rarely attracted a majority among fellow deputies according to Malcolm Crook. Before the end of the year 1789, he was seen as one of the leaders of the small body of the extreme left. Jacobin Club Robespierre was involved with the new Society of the Friends of the Constitution, commonly known as the Jacobin Club. They were radicals who asked for the removal of the monarchy entirely. Originally, this organization (the Club Breton) was made up only of deputies from Brittany. After the National Assembly had moved to Paris, the Friends admitted non-deputies, supporting the changes in France. As time went on, many of the more educated artisans and small shopkeepers joined the Jacobin club. With these 1,200 men, Robespierre found a sympathetic audience. Equality was the keystone of the Jacobin ideology. In January he held several speeches in response to the decision making the exercise of civil rights dependent on a certain sum in the tax. During the debate on the suffrage, Robespierre ended his speech of 25 January 1790 with a blunt assertion that ‘all Frenchmen must be admissible to all public positions without any other distinction than that of virtues and talents’. On 5 December 1790 Robespierre held a speech on the urgent topic of the National Guard, a police force, independent from the army. Robespierre opposed the plans for reorganizing the National Guard and restricting its membership to active citizens. He demanded the reconstitution of the army on a democratic basis, allowing passive citizens. The army had to become the instrument of defense of the Revolution, and no longer a threat to it. Reign Of Terror The French Government faced serious internal challenges. Cities rebelled against the more radical revolutionaries in Paris, threating to plunge Paris into Civil War. In July, France threatened to fall apart. 26 of the 83 departments were no longer in control. French revolutionary politicians believed a stable government was needed to quill counterrevolutionary sentiments and activities. The "Enemy Within" And Rise To Evil One thing the revolution brought was equality in execution, no more inhumane hangs, and no different executions depending on race and social class. Joesph Guilltione came up with an idea. A blade that drops at the speed of thunder making the execution quick and painless. The Radicals were now in control, they believed not only was France surrounded by foreign enemies but that within the masses, there were also internal ones too. Individuals not royal to the revolution, conspiring to bring about its downfall. Robespierre and the rest of the radical faction were having known of it. A new Committee Of Public Safety was established with 12 members, it's purpose was to protect the French Republic from its enemies, and it basically became a 12 man dictatorship with Max as it's leading voice. The Revolutionary Tribunal was also reinstated. A special court created to streamline the process of trying suspected enemies and handing out death sentences. With these 2 new institutions, Max wanted to scare France's enemies straight. In September 1793 it was announced "Terror would be the Order of The Day" in other words FEAR would become official government policy and from then onwards we enter into the period known as the Reign of Terror. Spies and Secret Police were everywhere and watched the people closely. France's people had to be extremely careful about what they said and how they behaved. Obviously, criticizing the new system or criticizing the government would quickly have you sent off to the guillotine, but that's not all, even the most minor offense, could have you tried in front of the revolutionary court. For Example, "Hello, Citizen Martin," said DuBois. "Hello, Monsieur DuBois," Said Martin. Secret Police hears Monsieur, "Monsieur!? Did I just hear you say Monsieur?! That's the old way style of address, my friend. TO THE GUILLOTINE." "You know what," said Madame de Laventie (made up name) "I didn't like him but I do feel kinda bad for the king and his family." Secret police heard it. "Oof. Expressing sympathy for the royal family are we? TO THE GUILLOTINE!" "Twelve sous for a loaf of bread?! That's way overpriced!" said an angry citizen. TO THE GUILLOTINE!. "Man this breadline is taking forever". TO THE GUILLOTINE! "Max we are sending way too many people to the Guillotine" Said a radical. "TO THE GUILLOTINE!!!!" said Max. It was insane, people all across France about around 40,000 People were kliled or suspected of "Crimes against liberty ". The Great Terror and The Cult Of The Supreme Being Overtime, Robbspiere, for lack of a better term, went a Bit Mental. He was hellbent on creating what he called "The Republic Of Virtue", and for him, this meant turning up the bloodshed even more. Throughout the Spring and Summer of 1794, executions reached an unprecedented level in a period known as The Great Terror. Even those closest to Max found there a way to the guillotine because they opposed his ideas and actions, and he began alienating himself from the rest of the of the Convention. He created a new religion known as "The Cult Of The Supreme Being" along with a new annual Festival of The Supreme Being. He started to think he was a god and got a little extreme. Downfall And Death His greatest mistake came on July 26th when he made a speech to the National Convention in which he said "I have in my hand a brand new list of enemies, to be sent to the guillotine, and some of YOU are on this list. But I'm not going to tell you who yet! What do you think of that!". Then the Convention voted to send him to the guillotine and he was the last death in his Reign Of Terror. 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